Develop Bugs

Is this the right phone to get?

For those of you that have this phone, and have had it since close to it's release date, what are your opinions?
I am going to be purchasing a new phone, for use with WindMobile in Canada (i.e. it must be an AWS phone). As far as I can tell this is my best option because I use my phone mostly as a camera so my #1 interest is a camera that does not lag and will open quickly. I also am a fairly heavy user for NUMBER of apps. I have a lot installed and switch between them frequently. I don't play games or watch videos so graphics don't matter much.
The kicker here is I am REALLY hoping to keep this phone for 2 years at least. Do you think that this phone will last? Keeping in mind I don't care about being behind on new technology. I only care that it can handle my volume of use and won't sputter and choke to a slow after 6 months use like the one I have now.
I currently have an Optimus 2X but it is dying. It lags incredibly between tasks and the plastic covering the camera is poor quality and I had to rip it off so the lens is mostly unprotected now. I don't want to deal with stuff like this is I am going to buy a brand new phone. Do you think the Xperia ZL is the right choice?
p.s. I saw a review of the camera where the reviewer said that the photos look great on the BRAVIA screen but once on a computer screen are not very good. Has this been your experience? What about printing?
p.p.s. would appreciate comments about how rugged it is also as I work as a nanny with two 24 month old toddlers. Honestly I want the Z due to it's waterproof encasing but it's not sold new up here in Canada.

so my #1 interest is a camera that does not lag and will open quickly.
--> camera itself is the fastest I've seen. First thing you notice is the super smooth and responsive viewfinder.. even in low light. It always feels 60fps. I compared this to HTC ONE and it's a LOT slower..really.
About opening.. opening of the camera app isn't fastest i've seen (can take 3 secs) but because of the dedicated button you can still open it way faster than phones without button.
I also am a fairly heavy user for NUMBER of apps. I have a lot installed and switch between them frequently. I don't play games or watch videos so graphics don't matter much.
--> Ye as with all 2GB phones multitasking is almost instant and apps never really close.
The kicker here is I am REALLY hoping to keep this phone for 2 years at least. Do you think that this phone will last? Keeping in mind I don't care about being behind on new technology.
Then yes. I don't see why this phone wouldn't make it 2 years.
I only care that it can handle my volume of use and won't sputter and choke to a slow after 6 months use like the one I have now.
With 2GB ram it's pretty future proof IMO.
p.s. I saw a review of the camera where the reviewer said that the photos look great on the BRAVIA screen but once on a computer screen are not very good. Has this been your experience? What about printing?
Well, in my opinion, pictures look suberb on the 5" with bravia engine 2..really gives a wow-factor.
When you then watch them on the PC they look kinda normal/bland/boring..so its just the way you look at it
p.p.s. would appreciate comments about how rugged it is also as I work as a nanny with two 24 month old toddlers. Honestly I want the Z due to it's waterproof encasing but it's not sold new up here in Canada.
The back isn't made from glass but very grippy texture. I haven't dropped mine but the phones feels very sturdy and good quality, except for maybe the little flap on the back for sim/SD.
Honestly I think ZL is very underrated and still (even with new models like Z1) ZL is still my favorite.

Thanks for your quick quick reply!! One clarification I have to ask: I understand what you mean about quality depending on the screen. However when you look on your computer do you think the quality fits the price? Let's put this simply: I am tired of my boyfriend's iphone photos looking SOOOO much better than mine. Can I at least compete now? lol

earthabbey said:
Thanks for your quick quick reply!! One clarification I have to ask: I understand what you mean about quality depending on the screen. However when you look on your computer do you think the quality fits the price? Let's put this simply: I am tired of my boyfriend's iphone photos looking SOOOO much better than mine. Can I at least compete now? lol
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To be honest I really like the camera but the software app just doesn't do it justice. Pictures looked a bit washed out when looked at the computer. You can still install another camera app with less compression effects.
Also, for me the camera opens very quickly, less than 1 second with the latest 267 firmware update.
The phone looks gorgeous with the incredibly small bezel for a 5 inch phone. But if you want an awesome camera phone you really should go with the Galaxy S4. Still the best midrange camera phone I've seen so far is clearly the Nokia Lumia 920 but its a Win8 phone... both phone can be easily unlocked if not offered by Wind and are AWS versions.
Also, lots of people complain about the screen being TFT which is the cheapest technology you can use for a phone nowadays. So the viewing angles aren't good but I personally don't care much. But I think you will notice it right away.
Still, for a lot of other aspects, I prefer the Sony ZL

earthabbey said:
p.p.s. would appreciate comments about how rugged it is also as I work as a nanny with two 24 month old toddlers. Honestly I want the Z due to it's waterproof encasing but it's not sold new up here in Canada.
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the Z is available through Bell FYI.

I just traded it my s3 for an zl very disappointed in camera in dark places there is a ton of noise I have to also take multiple snaps before I can get a shot to have a properly focused pic if I use flash it works fine but using superior auto mode and in a well lit room it still doesn't compare anything to the s3 which had a very quick focus but other then that the phone is well worth it will last you 2 years if you do not abuse it only thing im concerned is the non removable battery... wonder how will it perform in 2 years from now....
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

shahkam said:
I just traded it my s3 for an zl very disappointed in camera in dark places there is a ton of noise I have to also take multiple snaps before I can get a shot to have a properly focused pic if I use flash it works fine but using superior auto mode and in a well lit room it still doesn't compare anything to the s3 which had a very quick focus but other then that the phone is well worth it will last you 2 years if you do not abuse it only thing im concerned is the non removable battery... wonder how will it perform in 2 years from now....
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
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Do you have the latest update? A lot of reviews I saw said that there were a lot of problems before the latest update.

shahkam said:
I just traded it my s3 for an zl very disappointed in camera in dark places there is a ton of noise I have to also take multiple snaps before I can get a shot to have a properly focused pic if I use flash it works fine but using superior auto mode and in a well lit room it still doesn't compare anything to the s3 which had a very quick focus but other then that the phone is well worth it will last you 2 years if you do not abuse it only thing im concerned is the non removable battery... wonder how will it perform in 2 years from now....
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
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Don't use superior auto by default, it adds way too much noise. Try using normal with some basic tweaks, you will see a major difference.
Especially with the latest update.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app

Well I kind of have the same problem. Own an Optimus 2x and now ordered Zl from an amazon offer (350 euros). I love the white version since - if the black back looks cheap - this is absolutely not the case with the white.
However, I am quite disappointed by the screen. You notice the viewing angles immediately and every time the phone is lying on a table in a darker room, it looks like it is showing a bright Grey picture although background is black. So I wanted to return it.
Then I thought of alternatives, but very successful.. I am looking for a phone with no amoled screen, wo no s4. I really want at least 32gb memory and would be happy if it had a working fm radio like XZL (tried Optimus G and thought that must be a bad joke). The Optimus G was nice, but fm radio crap, and due to non expendable storage, I was really missing USB otg. S4 active would be nice, but no fm radio, feels somehow big and is very overpriced. The new nexus 5 seems to only have 16gb.. LG G2 is very expensive with 32gb. And none of them has a dedicated camera button. So I guess xperia zl is a great package! If only they had included a IPS screen (which can be considered as standard today, even for cheap phones).
Today I looked at the screen in a bright room and then it looked way better than yesterday night when it was dark. So I am thinking of keeping the phone - seems like the package is quite good. Or does anyone of you habe a proposal?
Sent from my LG-P990 using xda app-developers app

My comments:
The poor viewing angles on the screen aren't as horrible as people make it out to be, the screen is still perfectly good and quite a joy to look at. (plus if you like to be private then it stops people from seeing what you're doing easily)
Picture quality is fine, I have an unlocked bootloader(which I did before TA backups were a thing ;_ and even still everything looks great on the screen. Video quality is pretty good in my opinion. In low light, yes the picture quality does tend to suffer but it's still acceptable for it being a phone, I personally haven't tried tweaking with the settings much besides installing the Z1 camera app port.
If you want to see the quality yourself, here are some photos/videos(mind you the outdoor greenery shots were taken a while ago so the latest updates might have improved things):
http://imgur.com/a/qoqg2#0
http://youtu.be/SXxN14HdeGU
Performance has been pretty good, there are a few things I've noticed which can make it a little laggy, like setting a smaller icon size in Apex and the app Twilight can make scrolling a little laggy, but otherwise performance is snappy.
Something that might be of concern is battery life, due to the non-removeable battery. I can usually get through a day before having to charge. I get about 4-5 hours of video watching, so if I only use the screen for a few hours sporadically(15 minutes here, 15 minutes there) then I can usually push it to 24 hours.
One thing I would really suggest is getting at least a decent screen cover, if not case as well, I have one of those meifeng cases from ebay, it's decent enough quality and it's pretty thin, I don't use it every day though. But the built in screen protector is an absolute lint electromagnet, it's like it's sole purpose was to collect lint, not cool. I picked up a skinomi screen protector, just put it on top of the built in one and it works/looks fine.
One thing I like about the skinomi is that it's slightly soft, so it doesn't scratch easily, but it still a good surface for fingering.
The speaker isn't loud enough to be heard over a concert or some power tools, but if you're just at home or in the car then it's quite adequate, the headphone out is also adequate, though it can be a tad quieter than some might like, depending on headphones used.
The microphones are pretty great, that youtube video? The music in person was ear-screeching, yet somehow the microphones managed to pick everything else up pretty well.
The IR Blaster is fun if you normally use multiple remotes for your home.
I can't really think of anything else at the moment, but feel free to ask and I'll try to answer.
Edit:
Shadowman19: Personally I find the viewing angles acceptable knowing that I'm probably never really going to be looking at my phone from these angles anyways, 99% of the time I'm looking at it is straight on.

Personally I don't own a ZL(I currently own an Ion), but i have seen a couple of Z's(the Z screen is similar to the ZL). Honestly, I don't see the difference when tilting the phone(I can definitely see it on my ion). The poor viewing angle claims are exaggerated.

Homido Virtual Reality Review !!!

Is it a pleasure to describe you this super amazing device.
Just few years ago a good virtual headset cost thousand of euro.Now with just 69 euro + a regular 5 inch fullhd smartphone probably you can achieve a better results.
At first thanks to a Samsung stand i discover this new economic way for VR and i was shoked for the Field of View 96 degree and the overall experience.
Samsung gear vr is not still in the market and actually would work just with note 4 so i tried to find an alternative.
At first i bough a really cheap vr headset.A sort of google cardboard made of plastic.And even if it was cheap with a small FOV gave me a pretty good sensation.
But nothing compare with the Samsung vr gear i tried in the mall plus the Color Cross were really unconfortable to wear and to adjust.
I did a great resarch and i find out this Homido ready to be buy with great features.
Design 5/5 Look like a cool snowboards glasses very cool wearable without feel like a nerd
Quality 4/5 Simple but very good material and great optic wich provide you a really immersive feeling with 100 fov basically is the same feeling i had with samsung vr gear.Fully adjustable very easy !!!
Comfort 5/5 If i told you color cross were a pain in the ass for more than 5 minutes Homido seems you can fall sleept with this one no problem even if you have a bige nose.Overall they are just comfort as wearing a snowboard mask...
Service 5/5 I ordered 5 for all my family for 69 each and i get in 5 days saturday and sunday included with no additional charge trought a very fast shipping from China to Florida US
Conclusion:AMAZING product wich work better than i expected.
Amazing for 360 stereoscopic vr video and let
tell you 3D compared with this technology is already the past.Now you feel inside de video.The future vs the past.Even the box is really nice .For sure i will buy more for Christmas if you don't try you can't really undestand the real power of this headset.With S4 best VR i ever tried
Inviato dal mio GT-I9505 con Tapatalk 2

I have went through the same exact experience as you when it comes to the whole VR thing. I have the color cross and imcardboard both foam and card board models. I also had the Oculus rift DK1. The Oculus Rift DK1 was able to show me what the future of vr was going to be like, but I sold it because of the nausea issues caused by bad reoslution and lag.
The color cross kills the bridge of my nose after a couple of minutes and the lenses are barely useable. Also cardboard pressed on your face from the actual cardboard models just kinda sucks. I ordered the Homido a couple of days and have seen very little posts about it. I am glad I found this post as it gives me some confidence that it might actually be useable.
It would be nice to get a decent VR experience in a portable package.

The Homido does not TRULY "fit" devices larger than 5" since the display is cut off all around the device. The view width is only 4.1" so no way a 5" wide display like the Note 4 will truly fit, since a large part of the display is cut off. There are posts and feedback about this and forces you to reduce the image size to not get cut off and this makes the resolution worse with an image already split into two smaller ones.
Very misleading for Homido to say it fits devices larger than 5" and hurts perception of the product. Homido should have made the frame bezel thinner to TRULY fit devices larger than 5" phones.

I;ve been using my Homido also on my Note 4, and i must say its not bad at all.
The one thing that makes me wonder is that movies look kinda bad... and not only SBS, but some good quality 1080p movies. I know that the screen simulation is really big... but still makes me wonder.
Anyone tested gear vr also ? I would love to know if it worths the extra money.
The support and variety of games is wider ofcourse, but anyone really tried both to tell us his opinion ?

Point is a lot of the display is cut off, so the image used to fit is smaller, so not using the optimum pixels for the best picture. Gear VR is better since uses the maximum the display can fit since zero cut off. Homido is a nice designed device constrained by the fact that phones need to be 5" diagonal or less to fully fit the view area.

Bloodimirgr said:
Anyone tested gear vr also ? I would love to know if it worths the extra money.
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I was able to find these two articles that talked about their experience watching movies on the Gear VR:
http://www.roadtovr.com/samsung-gear-vr-preview-oculus-cinema-watching-a-2-hour-movie/
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2686...better-than-the-oculus-rift-in-some-ways.html
I demoed the Gear VR for the S6 at the local Samsung store and it was an unbelievable experience, although I could still see the screen door effect even with the S6's 577 dpi while watching a sample video.
Bloodimirgr said:
The one thing that makes me wonder is that movies look kinda bad... and not only SBS, but some good quality 1080p movies.
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Click to collapse
I would love to get the Gear VR, but I don't have a Samsung phone, so now I'm learning towards the Homido; however, after reading your comments about watching movies on the Homido now I'm not so sure anymore. Were you able to improve the movie watching experience on the Homido?

Actually i sold it, was getting a lot of screen cut on my note 4 since Homidos opening aint as big as the note 4 screen.
I believe that the ideal for homido would be a 5" 1080p screen

Bloodimirgr said:
I believe that the ideal for homido would be a 5" 1080p screen
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From what I've read so far, you'd also want an OLED screen. Ideally, it should also have at least 500 dpi.

3D VR Glasses for Zenfone 2 ZE551ML suggestion.

Hello all,
I have became curious about this technology and wanted some feedback and recommendations on which one is best for our phone, my main use will probably be, movies and a little of gaming.
Thanks...:good:

Howdy,
I bought a cheap 20 Euro VR headset and also the Homido VR headset which cost me 80 euro and I ended up selling the Homido! simply because the screen is placed way to close and it's horribly pixilated which I was soooo disappointed about :crying:
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Virtual-Real...roid-System-/161584765016?hash=item259f33d858
Go for something like this, not much pixelation and cheap to buy :good:
The Homido VR did have better FOV and overall was of better 3D quality due to it having nice Optics for it. I would go for something like I showed you but find something with good lenses for an overall better 3D experience ^^

Thanks for the suggestion.

I made the Google Cardboard one to see if I would like it before I invest in it and I loved it so I will be buying a more advanced pair. I saw some on Ebay that had bluetooth remote for $28 free shipping

spacecowboy618 said:
I made the Google Cardboard one to see if I would like it before I invest in it and I loved it so I will be buying a more advanced pair. I saw some on Ebay that had bluetooth remote for $28 free shipping
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Click to collapse
I got a cardboard V2 and it works very well

I picked up the View-Master goggles (like Cardboard v2 but plastic construction) when they were on sale for $20 a week (or so) ago. I'm using them with my Zenfone 2 with good results.
A couple thoughts though:
- I'd recommend Bluetooth headphones with this - the headphone cord will be pinched by the closure if you are using wired. You can also hear the built-in speakers through gaps in the case, but you lose stereo effects.
- It is a bit heavy on the nose - I find it is more comfortable pushed up higher on my face.
- They are really cool & I do recommend them.
I went through (and discarded) a few movie apps before settling on "VRTV free". Some of the others had more difficult controls and didn't seem to get the spacing right for the 3D effect (very obvious on text where it was "double vision" instead of 3D). VRTV has a virtual theater mode for 2d movies and then 180 & 360 modes for 3d files. It also has a "re-center" command which is important since I am getting some gyro drift (in fact I came here looking for some sort of calibration app).

Anybody test z5p in virtual reality at 4K with some cardboard or another VR headset?

Hello and happy new year 2016!
Well, meanwhile wait for my z3p next week, I would like to ask if some friend around here had already test the z5p in some VR headset in 4k resolution in some way.
If so, may be possible some comments about, in special if there some app that could be set in stereoscopic split view in 4k mode, so if posible play movies on VR headset taking advantage of high dpi screen for virtual cinema big screen.
I wonder if could be posible set the VR split screens, each one to 1080dpi, so it will make a really great VR resolution experience and wondefull use for the awesome 4k screen.
Thanks for further comments and best regards to all.

4k is not supported on Android for now, therefore no compatible 3rd party apps. It will however be supported in the the next Android update, Marshmallow. Let's wait and see what that brings us.

xaser66 said:
Hello and happy new year 2016!
Well, meanwhile wait for my z3p next week, I would like to ask if some friend around here had already test the z5p in some VR headset in 4k resolution in some way.
If so, may be possible some comments about, in special if there some app that could be set in stereoscopic split view in 4k mode, so if posible play movies on VR headset taking advantage of high dpi screen for virtual cinema big screen.
I wonder if could be posible set the VR split screens, each one to 1080dpi, so it will make a really great VR resolution experience and wondefull use for the awesome 4k screen.
Thanks for further comments and best regards to all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I mainly use my Z5P to watch 3D SBS format movies using VRTube and Colorcross headset, the resolution is so much better compare to my LG G3's 2k screen. You wont even notice the pixels. btw X-Reality and Super-vivid mode also works using VRTube which in my opinion makes the images more crystal clear. I've post screen shots on a different thread somewhere here of it working i don't remember which thread.

Thanks for reply and great info, just got VRtune and would test with my DEFAIRY VR Headset, the app seems lots better than then others that I tested, but not already a long tests, since I receive my Headseet just few days before xmas, and had been somewhat busy...
Thanks again and best regards to all

KbaB.BroS said:
4k is not supported on Android for now, therefore no compatible 3rd party apps. It will however be supported in the the next Android update, Marshmallow. Let's wait and see what that brings us.
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That would be great... right now I dowloading the AICP 6.0 Marsmallow rom for my Nexus 10... wonder if it may continue settings that may get a clue about future support in Z5p....
Thanks and best regards.

xaser66 said:
That would be great... right now I dowloading the AICP 6.0 Marsmallow rom for my Nexus 10... wonder if it may continue settings that may get a clue about future support in Z5p....
Thanks and best regards.
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not yet a Z5p user but, the screen door effect should definitely gone by now, leaving only pure 1080p VR display. don't get me wrong, it's software wise 1080 but will be upscaled nonetheless to 2160 resulting slight bluriness (due to 1080p resolution) but more importantly, no screen door effect.

kiritoxda said:
I mainly use my Z5P to watch 3D SBS format movies using VRTube and Colorcross headset, the resolution is so much better compare to my LG G3's 2k screen. You wont even notice the pixels. btw X-Reality and Super-vivid mode also works using VRTube which in my opinion makes the images more crystal clear. I've post screen shots on a different thread somewhere here of it working i don't remember which thread.
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Do you have a source for 4K SBS? All I've been able to find have been 1080 SBS

hansip87 said:
not yet a Z5p user but, the screen door effect should definitely gone by now, leaving only pure 1080p VR display. don't get me wrong, it's software wise 1080 but will be upscaled nonetheless to 2160 resulting slight bluriness (due to 1080p resolution) but more importantly, no screen door effect.
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Click to collapse
Hi! And thanks for for take time to reply, well I do not know what is door effect (in video and vr stuff I am a really noob )... But I am mostly wonder about if with a root access to 4k resolution setting could be possible a VR app that may use 2 x 1080 frames for VR headset (or even at least 2 x 720 pixels frames due black surrounding spaces that seems needed by the proper VR eye lenses alignment) of the current generic VR and Google-Cardboard clones headsets uses... This wonder me because if with a standard 1080pixel phone screen the view is very nice, however the double screen frames for the lenses are really of low resolution,since with an 1080 pixels lcd screen of others phones, minus the black surrounding areas, the square frames that are set by the current VR apps shows somewhat pixelated views...
So If the double frame for a VR headset could be made on a Z5p even at 720pixels each frame, that would be great and at 1080 will be awesome view by far for sure...
Best regards to all.

I came across this headset:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/ZEISS-VR-ON...=UTF8&qid=1454019315&sr=8-1&keywords=zeiss+z5
What do you guys think?
A more important question is, will we be able to use the Z5 Premium with Playstation VR?

jplempka said:
I came across this headset:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/ZEISS-VR-ON...=UTF8&qid=1454019315&sr=8-1&keywords=zeiss+z5
What do you guys think?
A more important question is, will we be able to use the Z5 Premium with Playstation VR?
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Click to collapse
Hello!
Well, I dont know in deep a lot about VR PlayStation but as far I may understand, VR-PS is about a new Sony propietary VR headset, that includes its own internal LCD and cpu and low latency hardware (thus, so, means expensive...), for play PS games.
The Zeiss headset appears to be an some version of optical adapter for use with phones, like others OpticalVR headsets that are kind ofvclines of original Google-CardBoard VR concept, so, I not sure but almost, this kind of VR headsets may not be compatible with VR-PlayStation, at least that Sony make an app for such task with a phone and a optical VRheadset, bur I dont know if such app exists at least as far I know by now.
Since above, is that I wonder if the such great 4k resolution of Z5P could use with an VR app, for a 1920x1080 frame for each eye operation, with an OpticalVR set.
That is I may comment in hope that may help with your question.
Best regards to all.

xaser66 said:
Hello and happy new year 2016!
Well, meanwhile wait for my z3p next week, I would like to ask if some friend around here had already test the z5p in some VR headset in 4k resolution in some way.
If so, may be possible some comments about, in special if there some app that could be set in stereoscopic split view in 4k mode, so if posible play movies on VR headset taking advantage of high dpi screen for virtual cinema big screen.
I wonder if could be posible set the VR split screens, each one to 1080dpi, so it will make a really great VR resolution experience and wondefull use for the awesome 4k screen.
Thanks for further comments and best regards to all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi xaser, I upgraded to this phone specifically for its potential for virtual reality. I was disappointed to learn that I need Marshmallow to unlock 4k in third party apps (I'm on EE and it hasnt been rolled out yet ) but I can tell you without hesitation that watching my 1080p movies in SBS format is quite a joy on this phone. SDE is very minimal compared to my previous 1080p display phone (Samsung galaxy S5). Can still notice the SDE but its definitely not distracting as on my S5. But I never viewed through a 1440p phone to make any comparison to that res.
But I have a question for others. How can one monitor what resolution a VR video player app is running at? Is there a 4k, 2k, 1080p test SBS patterns that one could use to compare when loaded in an SBS app?
This phone has real potential for VR, its a crying shame that this 4k display is not hyped for VR. Nearly every review I see, all say, its a waste because one cannot discern the difference with a 1440p display, none of them think of VR!
In terms of processing power, the phone will surely struggle to give smooth VR but I discovered a couple of apps that enable remote desktop to a PC where you can play your PC games, blu ray films, and even Oculus Rift games streamed to the phone and the motion sensor of the phone emulates the mouse on the PC! I am still yet to explore that feature as I am now waiting for a new VR headset I ordered as my old one is kinda rubbish for my new Z5 phone in terms of its phone holder design as this Z5 gets bloody hot quickly and so the suction pad mechanism of my headset is pretty bad for it. I have a solution though for cooling it and that is to use re-usable gel packs.

what VR headset works with z5p with bumper case?

TheyCallMeMrGlass said:
But I have a question for others. How can one monitor what resolution a VR video player app is running at? Is there a 4k, 2k, 1080p test SBS patterns that one could use to compare when loaded in an SBS app?
This phone has real potential for VR, its a crying shame that this 4k display is not hyped for VR. Nearly every review I see, all say, its a waste because one cannot discern the difference with a 1440p display, none of them think of VR!
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The Z5P runs in 4K always (it's a 4K display afterall) it's just the content, unless viewed in the Sony apps, is upscaled from 1080p. You can upgrade this to 1440p using ADB and this will allow other apps to make use of that res, but until you go Marshmallow then you won't get any apps that can use 4K - and I doubt services like NetFlix will write 4K compatibility in to their mobile app just for us Z5P users.
I used the ADB trick to run at 1440p and 2160p and I have to say all I noticed was increased battery drain and laggy performance as the GPU couldn't really keep up with pushing 4k res all the time as well as it can upscaling 1080p.
To each their own, however.

1dave said:
what VR headset works with z5p with bumper case?
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I am using Riem III VR headset which houses it fine. Most VR headsets appear to accommodate large phones. I have now ordered a Fiit VR which looks to be a better headset overall. Riem III is a let down with its suction pad blocking vent holes and lack of focal adjustment (though, the reason there is no focal adjustment is because its one of the few headsetsets that can fit over your glasses). The problem with wearing glasses and VR at the same time is that it narrows the field of view. So as a glass wearer, I would prefer having them off and have a focal adjustment on the headset.
---------- Post added at 11:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:27 AM ----------
NJ72 said:
The Z5P runs in 4K always (it's a 4K display afterall) it's just the content, unless viewed in the Sony apps, is upscaled from 1080p. You can upgrade this to 1440p using ADB and this will allow other apps to make use of that res, but until you go Marshmallow then you won't get any apps that can use 4K - and I doubt services like NetFlix will write 4K compatibility in to their mobile app just for us Z5P users.
I used the ADB trick to run at 1440p and 2160p and I have to say all I noticed was increased battery drain and laggy performance as the GPU couldn't really keep up with pushing 4k res all the time as well as it can upscaling 1080p.
To each their own, however.
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Although I appear to have joined years ago, which surprised me, lol, I am very new here, and I am afraid I dont know what is ADB, can you point me to where I can learn how to run that trick?
Even if the 4K cant be achieved content-wise, I think the upscaling still betters other displays in VR mode due to less SDE and that's at least a very big plus. 1440p might be a nice sweet spot especially for playing 1080p movies in VR mode.
I'd still like to know how I can determine what resolution a picture or video is being played at.

TheyCallMeMrGlass said:
Although I appear to have joined years ago, which surprised me, lol, I am very new here, and I am afraid I dont know what is ADB, can you point me to where I can learn how to run that trick?
Even if the 4K cant be achieved content-wise, I think the upscaling still betters other displays in VR mode due to less SDE and that's at least a very big plus. 1440p might be a nice sweet spot especially for playing 1080p movies in VR mode.
I'd still like to know how I can determine what resolution a picture or video is being played at.
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ADB is the 'Android Debug Bridge' which allows you to control your device from your PC including pushing apps, pulling files and other clever bits and pieces. It can be obtained as a small installation for PC by googling 'Minimal ADB'.
It runs on a command prompt interface, it will require you to open up developer settings on your phone and then enable 'USB Debugging' before it will work. If you don't know much about what you're doing then be quite careful as you can cause some issues if you're not. Google it and familiarise yourself with it - it's quite simple.
Once you've done that then have a look at this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/z5-premium/general/changing-resolution-default-to-2k-root-t3282319 it explains the process and how it all pieces together. Note it is technically an emulated resolution, rather than changing the whole device to operate in 4K, however due to the display resolution of the screen they are effectively one and the same thing.
Hopefully that helps.

Well in the end I never bother with ADP and just waited for the EE to roll out the Marshmallow upgrade which happily got pushed several days ago.
And wow, I have been enjoying watching my blu ray rips ever since. So using a VR Fiit headset (the best of its type that I have tried so far) with a 103 deg FOV, the CMOAR Virtual Cinema app and of course our Z5 Premium phone, you really can enjoy watching movies as a virtual cinematic experience with minimal SDE compared to lower resolution phones.
Now my next step is to purchase a bluetooth adapter for my Yamaha 7.1 AV system to see if its possible to immerse oneself in the virtual cinema whilst sound is fed to my living room AV/speakers.

TheyCallMeMrGlass said:
Well in the end I never bother with ADP and just waited for the EE to roll out the Marshmallow upgrade which happily got pushed several days ago.
And wow, I have been enjoying watching my blu ray rips ever since. So using a VR Fiit headset (the best of its type that I have tried so far) with a 103 deg FOV, the CMOAR Virtual Cinema app and of course our Z5 Premium phone, you really can enjoy watching movies as a virtual cinematic experience with minimal SDE compared to lower resolution phones.
Now my next step is to purchase a bluetooth adapter for my Yamaha 7.1 AV system to see if its possible to immerse oneself in the virtual cinema whilst sound is fed to my living room AV/speakers.
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Would you say the VR Fiit is a definite improvement over the Riem III? Don't want to spend money unless I'm getting something really much better. Thanks.
Sent from my E6853 using XDA Free mobile app

jplempka said:
Would you say the VR Fiit is a definite improvement over the Riem III? Don't want to spend money unless I'm getting something really much better. Thanks.
Sent from my E6853 using XDA Free mobile app
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Personally, a definite improvement. But perhaps read my detailed reviews on Amazon to gauge whether my prioritised needs match yours:
VR Fiit: https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/RJDS38AFAYXQ1/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm
Hiem III: https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R2DPYONOOAGF6A/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

I've got FreeFly VR headset and Xperia Z5 Premium. Previously had Xperia Z1.
Difference is huge, much bigger than I expected, and although apps are still rendering in 1080p resolution, there's no screen door effect anymore, and this really makes a difference. Everything just looks cleaner. Not sharper, but cleaner. For me this means waiting for second generation of VIVE/Oculus/PlayStationVR, which will have 4K screens instead of 2K at max.

Considering this one:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Xiaozhai-G...ie=UTF8&qid=1463066646&sr=8-1&keywords=bobovr
Though there's one which is almost identical:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Virtoba-Gl...ie=UTF8&qid=1463067152&sr=8-2&keywords=bobovr
Which one would you guys go for?
Sent from my E6853 using XDA Free mobile app

Anyone use the Z5 Premium as a VR entertainment device?

So I read through the other thread that talked about VR, but it's dead. So I'm posting a new one to see who's currently doing this, if anyone at all.
Are any of you using the Z5 Premium to watch movies through VR? I've never ventured into VR territory but the Z5P keeps luring me in. I don't care about gaming, and I don't care about 3D. What I'm really looking for is a way to block out the rest of the world and watch a movie. It can even just be pitch black around the movie (I guess that's called Void cinema in the world of Oculus?).
There's got to be one of you out there.

I used it twice with a plastic, adjustable and good quality cardboard a coworker bought and it was very cool, as the screen is ver big, it filled the space of the cardboard. I tested some games but for movies I guess it would be cool to. In fact, Im planning to buy one soon. I recommend it
Enviado desde mi Xperia Z5 Premium mediante Tapatalk

dimex said:
So I read through the other thread that talked about VR, but it's dead. So I'm posting a new one to see who's currently doing this, if anyone at all.
Are any of you using the Z5 Premium to watch movies through VR? I've never ventured into VR territory but the Z5P keeps luring me in. I don't care about gaming, and I don't care about 3D. What I'm really looking for is a way to block out the rest of the world and watch a movie. It can even just be pitch black around the movie (I guess that's called Void cinema in the world of Oculus?).
There's got to be one of you out there.
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I've post my experience with watching 3D movies using VRTube on another post + pics perhaps you've seen it. Also, Sony's image enhancements works with VRTube which is great, too bad Sony sound effects do not, i suggest using viper4android for sound enhancements. Also VRTube is pitch black around the screen so it'll be perfect for you. I use sony's bluetooth headphones for a complete wireless experience. I can tell you that the picture is superb, no screen door effect from pixels. I use the colorcross headset since that works best for movies imo. I haven't found a headset with a clearer lens than colorcross although i stop buying headsets a year ago since I've wasted so much money on them, (trial and error).
I've been watching 3D movies on mobile for about 2 years now using this setup, the previous phone i had was the LG G3 (2k screen) which wasn't bad but still has the screen door effect. After upgrading to xz5p my vr experience got better so yes i'd say it was worth it.
I forgot to mention i use a bluetooth remote with a mouse cursor mode, you can get one for cheap on Amazon unless you want to keep taking out your phone to make adjustments.

kiritoxda said:
I've post my experience with watching 3D movies using VRTube on another post + pics perhaps you've seen it. Also, Sony's image enhancements works with VRTube which is great, too bad Sony sound effects do not, i suggest using viper4android for sound enhancements. Also VRTube is pitch black around the screen so it'll be perfect for you. I use sony's bluetooth headphones for a complete wireless experience. I can tell you that the picture is superb, no screen door effect from pixels. I use the colorcross headset since that works best for movies imo. I haven't found a headset with a clearer lens than colorcross although i stop buying headsets a year ago since I've wasted so much money on them, (trial and error).
I've been watching 3D movies on mobile for about 2 years now using this setup, the previous phone i had was the LG G3 (2k screen) which wasn't bad but still has the screen door effect. After upgrading to xz5p my vr experience got better so yes i'd say it was worth it.
I forgot to mention i use a bluetooth remote with a mouse cursor mode, you can get one for cheap on Amazon unless you want to keep taking out your phone to make adjustments.
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Have you used the Bobovr Z4? I've read that a lot of people like that unit. The VRTube app you're speaking of is the one by IdeaMatters (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ideamats.vrtubefull)? The one that looks like it still has Gingerbread interface?
You can get through an entire move no problem without it overheating or anything like that? What do you look for resolution-wise when you're sourcing your movies to watch? Sorry for so many questions, I'm completely clueless when it comes to VR.

dimex said:
Have you used the Bobovr Z4? I've read that a lot of people like that unit. The VRTube app you're speaking of is the one by IdeaMatters (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ideamats.vrtubefull)? The one that looks like it still has Gingerbread interface?
You can get through an entire move no problem without it overheating or anything like that? What do you look for resolution-wise when you're sourcing your movies to watch? Sorry for so many questions, I'm completely clueless when it comes to VR.
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Yea that's the one. The phone gets warm no overheating, I lose about 20%/h watching movies, All the movies i have are all BlueRay quality in its highest resolution, The movie file can take up 10-20gb each..

kiritoxda said:
Yea that's the one. The phone gets warm no overheating, I lose about 20%/h watching movies, All the movies i have are all BlueRay quality in its highest resolution, The movie file can take up 10-20gb each..
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That doesn't say much. So I'm guessing you're sourcing BluRay 4K rips at 3840x2160, ya? So I'm just trying to educate myself, but that would mean when you watch it in your VR headset you're effectively getting 1920x1080 to each eye and watching the film in FHD?

No the full video resolution is usually 1920x1080p so each eye would be getting 960 x 1080

kiritoxda said:
No the full video resolution is usually 1920x1080p so each eye would be getting 960 x 1080
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But I'm guessing that's still plenty clear and enjoyable due to the lack of SDE?

Yup.

So I just got my Z5P yesterday, but first time playing with it tonight. Do I need to force 4k through ADB or anything like that to get the best VR experience?

No. Android automatically plays back video (anything using SurfaceView which is just a buffered view) at full resolution.

jonshipman said:
No. Android automatically plays back video (anything using SurfaceView which is just a buffered view) at full resolution.
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If that's the case, than what's going on here (2k vs 4k resolution)? Am I able to make the VR screen larger but in essence the video played within it is the same resolution for both?

Then it'll better be 4k Blu-ray video with 20 more gigabytes
And the device will get slower during the time (it says cannot play video) you need to restart